12,000 evacuated as rain lashes China

Around 12,300 people have been forced to relocate after rainstorms pounded southwest China's Sichuan province, officials said Thursday.

Heavy rain lashed most parts of Sichuan Wednesday and Thursday where floods and landslides last week killed 58 people while 175 others are still missing, Xinhua reported.

Water in local rivers have exceeded warning levels.

In Guangyuan city, floods triggered nine landslides, forcing the evacuation of 12,300 residents, the city government said.

Torrential rain over the past two days also wreaked havoc in Zhaotong, in Sichuan's neighbouring province of Yunnan.

Three people died, 1,300 evacuated and thousands of hectares of crops damaged in five counties in Zhaotong, flood control officials said.